A peep into life in Africa, through the eyes of an African Reformed Baptist pastor.

Water, water, water, everywhere. What else do you expect? I am a Baptist, and I live in the land of the mighty Victoria Falls!

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Zambia Has Lifted The African Cup of Nations Trophy!

“I saw
that under the sun the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,
nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to those with
knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11).

I just had to blog on this! The great day
that Zambia has been waiting for in the world of football (what Americans call
“soccer”) has finally come. The Zambian national football team went into the
2012 African Cup of Nations as underdogs, having performed below par even in
their preparatory matches. However, around midnight Zambian time, on Sunday 12
February, we became the African champions. We beat Ivory Coast 8-7 on post-match
penalties after a goalless 120 minutes. The rest is now history.

After the win, the whole nation went crazy
with excitement. Due to a pending trip out of the country, I missed watching
the match. I was packing and only saw bits of the match as I picked up various
items for the trip from the lounge where my household was glued to the TV. I
went to bed while the match was still on. However, as the clock struck
midnight, there was enough noise to wake the dead. So, I finally got up and
decided to spend the time meditating on what all this should mean to me as a
Christian in Zambia.

There is no doubt that our national
football team has done us proud by winning the African Cup of Nations. Football
is big in Zambia and in Africa as a whole. Life in the compounds and the rural
areas revolves around kicking home made balls around with bare feet. There is
no second or third sport in Zambia, as is the case in so many other nations of
the world. For us it is football, football, and football. Hence, when almost
our entire football team perished in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon in
1993, it was the biggest funeral this nation had ever experienced. People
failed to go to work.

The Zambian football team celebrating a goal

Hence, it is so easy for me to simply join
in the mindless frenzy that has gripped the nation. However, it is my Christian
duty to ask, “If Jesus were a Zambian, and he was around today, how would he
have responded to all this?” In other words, how does the Bible expect us to
respond to the kind of good news that we have as a nation today? We are the
African football champions; what thoughts should fill our minds and hearts?

I ought to celebrate victory in
sport

To
begin with, I found a number of Bible passages that suggested that biblical
authors recognised the important place that competitive games had in life and
thus justified the exhilarating joy of the victors. I noticed that they often
referred to this sphere of life as parallels with the spiritual life in order
for us to learn vital lessons on how we should live our lives as Christians.
Here are a few examples:

The
apostle Paul wrote, “Do
you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the
prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in
all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.
So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I
discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I
myself should be disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:24-27).

Zambian team captain, Christopher Katongo, in full flight

Paul
would not have used the athletic and boxing world to make such an important
point about the Christian life if competitive games did not occupy a prominent
place in life in his own day. His point is that there is a prize to be won at
the end of our Christian lives. We must have the same spirit of discipline and
determination that sports men and women have if we are going to reap such a
reward from the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ on the final day.

The
apostle Paul also wrote, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have
kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness,
which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only
to me but also to all who have loved his appearing”(2 Timothy 4:7-8). It seems that to this godly man nearing
the end of his life, the best illustration of what a Christian should expect
upon his demise is that which an athlete receives when he wins a competitive
match. So, surely it must be reasonable to award a successful sportsman or
sportswoman. Congratulations are in order!

The Zambian football team after scoring the decisive goal

The
author of the epistle to the Hebrews also used something of the sporting events
of his own day to urge Christians to emulate sportsmen in the spiritual realm.
He wrote, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,
let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us
run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the
founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the
throne of God” (Hebrews 12:1-2).

Many
spectators often surround a person competing in a great arena. This in itself
ought to be a spur for him to summon all his energies to win the game according
to its rules. A person participating in such an event will only have essential
clothing on him because anything else will hinder him from obtaining the prize.
As in the case of Jesus, the present “loss” is nothing compared with the exhilarating
joy of final victory.

Herve Renard commanding the troops onto victory

I
could go on giving further examples. It seems to me that the theme of
disciplined preparation, competing according to rules, determination during the
competition, and the awarding of prizes to the victors, were common knowledge
for the people in Bible days. Hence, I should not only learn spiritual lessons
from this, but I should relate to the world of sport in such a way that I could
be used as a point of reference for spiritual truth. In this case, celebrating
the winning of the Zambian national team is in order.

I
ought to celebrate with godly moderation

However, I also found that a number of
biblical truths that pervade Scripture demanded that, in celebrating our victory
as Christians, we should do so with godly moderation.

Christopher Katongo, the team captain, with the coveted trophy

Firstly, although we are very proud to be
Zambians today (especially with the aroma of victory still in the air), we must
remember that we are first-of-all Christians. We are not Zambians who happen to
be Christians but Christians who just happen to be Zambians. As important as
national boundaries might be for the purpose of our political wellbeing, they
are artificial at best. In fact, in dying for us on the cross, Jesus came to
break down so many of the boundaries that presently separate us as human
beings. In the eyes of God, therefore, the one boundary that truly matters is
that between sinners and saints. Hence, even as we feel proud as Zambians
today, we must not express this pride to the point where it clouds our primary citizenship,
which is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).

Secondly, this was but a game. As people
were running through the streets tonight and shouting at the top of their
voices, I was tempted to get a loudspeaker and remind everyone that what we
have won is but a game. Yes, it is a big game, an important game, a vital game
(due to our previous poor performance), and a very competitive gave; but it is a
game nonetheless. We should not give it the aura of the overthrow of an
oppressive and corrupt dictator or the saving of a human life from sin and
final destruction in hell. That is why the use of competitive games in the
Bible passages quoted above are all examples from the lesser to the greater (see
also 1 Timothy 4:7-8). Like the angels in heaven (Luke 15:7,10), our greatest
excitement as Christians must be when a soul gets saved.

The congested road all the way to the airport with a fan on top of a car

Thirdly, the accolades and awards that the
Zambian national football team have already begun to receive will be
short-lived. There is no doubt that Christopher Katongo and his team will
receive a heroes’ welcome upon their return. (In fact, I almost missed the
flight at mid-day later today because of the amount of traffic all the way to
the airport). For much of this week, they will be the centre of attention for
the whole nation. However, all this euphoria will soon be covered over by the
sands of time and we will be back to the realities of life—unemployment and
poverty, HIV and AIDS, corruption, etc.

We read earlier that, “They
do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Corinthians
9:25). There is one celebration that will last eternally. It will take
place when Jesus returns as Victor to take his people home—and we will be
victors together with him. The awards we will get on that day will be for all
eternity. Our present celebrations should show the world around us that we
await a more glorious one. Henry Alford (1810-1871) captured this moment
magnificently in his hymn when he wrote,

Ten thousand times ten thousand

In sparking raiment bright,

The armies of the ransomed saints

Throng up the steeps of light;

‘Tis finished, all is finished,

Their fight with death and sin;

Fling open wide the golden gates,

And let the victors in!

Some ladies dancing by the roadside in celebration of Zambia's victory

And, finally, to God alone be the
glory

So
then, let us celebrate. Zambia has lifted the African Cup of Nations trophy.
Yet, as we do so, let us remember that it is God who gave us the victory. It
was certainly not the spirits of our [football] ancestors who helped us win. It
was Mayuka and not Ucar (if you will forgive the pun) who did it! Yes, the
Chipololo boys and the technical staff worked very hard. We should not deny
that. However, the wise man Solomon once said, “I saw that under the sun the
race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise,
nor riches to the intelligent, nor favour to those with knowledge, but time and
chance happen to them all” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). In other words, we won because
God had ordained it that this time we would taste the sweetness of victory. Let
us, therefore, not forget to return thanks to God for his favour upon us. If we
celebrate with godly moderation, we will not be guilty of idolatry—a very
common sin in the world of sport!